On 03th April 2017 (Monday), District Administration Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria and the Center for Development of East Planning Region, Shtip, Macedonia in Blagoevgrad held a press conference to promote the project "Green buildings for shared green future - GREEN" funded by the first call INTERREG - IPA CBC programme Bulgaria - Macedonia 2014-2020.

The purpose and activities planned for implementation within the project GREEN were promoted before the Mayors of the municipalities of the two regions and other representatives of local governments from the East Planning region and Blagoevgrad as well as representatives from other regions, representatives of the Joint Technical Secretariat, representatives of the electronic and print media, the business sector and other stakeholders from the border region. The event was attended by over sixty participants.

The press conference addressed the importance and significance of the project:

Mr. Valery Sarandev, the Governor of the region of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria;

Mr. Ratko Dimitrovski, Chairman of the Council for Development of East Planning Region and Mayor of the Municipality of Kochani, Macedonia;

Mrs.Dragica Zdraveva, Head of the Center for Development of East Planning Region, Shtip, Lead Partner of the Project GREEN and

Ms. Assiya Velikova, Coordinator of the Bulgarian side of the project GREEN.

The project will be implemented in the region of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria and the East Planning Region, Macedonia. Project activities are aimed at environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources in the target border region. Target groups which will be covered by the project are young people aged 10 to 17 years, representatives of municipalities and district administrations, representatives of NGOs and private sector, employees in the Municipality of Kochani, the Center for Development of East Planning Region and District Administration in Blagoevgrad.

The project will implement a series of activities on both sides of the region with open opportunities for networking and open discussions on common issues and perspectives in the field of environmental protection.

The activities envisaged under the project before the audience present, Coordinator of the Bulgarian part of the project GREEN, Ms. Assiya Velikova in more detail explaining the activities such as:

Project management;

Conducting a series of workshops for capacity building on climate change and trainings on topics of climate change and measures to reduce the effects of climate change and the importance of green infrastructure;

Bringing innovative campaign to increase awareness of sustainable use of energy and the construction of "green" infrastructure, preparation and distribution of educational materials, including production and broadcasting of video and audio video;

Using special mobile laboratory and mobile office to promote the project;

Towards the Web and Facebook page to promote the project;

Construction works of the administrative building of the Municipality of Kochani and change their energy class D to B;

Construction work on the building of the Regional Administration Blagoevgrad;

Making regional strategy for energy and promotion of the project and project results.

The project promotes cooperation and innovative practices related to the protection and preservation of the environment through the use of new technologies and measures in the course of implementation, exchange of experiences and best practices between the two regions.

After the official part of the press conference was followed by a broad discussion about a subject that deals with project and told the representatives of media from Blagoevgrad and the East Planning Region.